Innocence Of Red
by Iridescent Hope
Summary: To protect the one person he cares about the most, Forte needs to entrust her to... the Light family?
1. 1

"You worthless bitch..."

There was the sound of someone being slapped, and Forte winced, hissing. _You idiot, why do you try to defy him? Is it just because you're able to?_

"Get out of my sights! Now!"

"Yes sir." A female responded, a sarcastic tone to her voice. "You didn't specify where I'm supposed to go though. What sh-"

This time it sounded like someone's head was being slammed against a wall. _Goddamnit Zero! _

A figure stumbled out of the doorway, leaning against the wall for support. Breathing raggedly, she shook her head, pulling strands of bright gold hair away from her blood soaked face.

"Baka."

Startled, she glanced up. "Onni-san... You were listening?"

Glaring, Forte nodded, walking to her side. "I was listening because I knew you would be an idiot again and mouth off. Can't you learn to be quiet?" Putting one arm around Zero's shoulders, he pulled her against him, helping her stand.

"Yes. In fact, I have learned to be quiet. He just... pisses me off." Wincing as Forte made her walk, she sighed. "I can't stand him."

"None of us do. But do we blatantly ignore what he says?"

"_Can_ you ignore what he says?"

"Good point..." Sighing, he shook his head. "But still... you know what he does to you. Zero, he's beating you! I'm surprised you can still walk anymore! If you do this much longer, he could..." Forte's voice trailed off. 

"Could what? Kill me?" Zero snorted. "Whether he likes it or not, I'm his 'greatest creation.' He's not going to scrap me just because I'm mouthy."

"If you push it, he might." Forte glared at her again. "With Wily, you shouldn't be so sure of your position in life."

She made no response to that. Instead, she merely looked ahead, concentrating on walking.

__

Stupid girl! Why are you so stubborn? "Come on, you need to be repaired. And I'm not willing to bet on Wily doing it again."

***

"Bluuuueees!" 

Rock smirked, struggling to contain his amusement. "What did you do this time? Did you get mud on the floors again?"

"I honestly have no clue!" Eyes wide, Blues glanced around the room nervously, looking for a place to hide. "But if Roll finds me, I'm going to be killed!"

"Oh really?" Unable to resist, Rock grinned broadly. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he shouted: "Roll! He's in the living ro-oof!" 

Tackling him, Blues glared at him. "You traitorous little... demon! You're going to pay for that!" 

"Oh really?" Rock repeated, trying to shove Blues off of him. "What are you going to do? Make me clean your room?"

"Actually, that's not a bad idea..."

"Blues!"

Wincing, he shuddered. "This is not the way I wanted to die," he muttered.

A hand reached down and grabbed his shoulder, yanking him back and off of Rock. "Dr. Light wants to see you." A pause. "Oh, and you too Rock."

"That's _all_?" Getting to his feet, Blues turned around to face his sister. "You run around the house like mad screaming my name making me think I did something wrong and you're going to kill me only to find out that Dr. Light just wants to see me and Rock?" His left eye began to twitch slightly.

"... oh, and you tracked mud into the kitchen."

"ARGH!" Letting loose a yell of rage and frustration, he lunged at his sister. Yelping, Roll turned and ran from her crazed brother, letting loose a torrent of swears when she ran into the door. 

Rock sighed. _Brilliant. My brother and sister are just brilliant._

***

"I'm giving you one more chance..."

Zero couldn't help but flinch as Wily came near her. She could feel his breath on his face, smelling of alcohol. _Oh great, he's been drinking... I'm so dead when I come back. _

Her head still hurt from where he had slammed her into the wall, splitting her head open. Thankfully the wound hadn't been that big, or else she would have been in serious trouble. And that had happened almost a week ago.

Try as she might, Zero just couldn't understand why Wily beat her, and only her. Sure, once or twice he had attacked Forte in rage when he had failed, for the eleventh or twelfth time, to kill Rock. But never had he so regularly hurt one of his creations. Why?

__

You know why, a voice taunted her. _It's because you're too perfect... you're too human... you can't stand to listen to his orders. But unlike the others, you can't just keep quiet. He made what he wanted and still failed._

"Oh shut up!" She hissed under her breath, trying to make the voice leave her alone. Unfortunately, Wily also heard.

"You tell me to shut up?!" The expression on his face was pure rage.

"No, I didn't mean for you t-"

A wrench connected with the side of her head, making her stumble back. Her hands immediately went up and, while she was clutching her face, she noticed Forte move, like he was going to attack Wily. 

He didn't though. He couldn't. He _couldn't_. His programming wouldn't let him and, unlike Zero, he couldn't fight against it. 

But that didn't mean he was going to let Wily hurt her. "Do you really want to do this to her right now?" He cried out as Wily made to hit her again. "If she's not in her best shape..."

"... You're right." He lowered his hand. "But when you get back... leave! Now!"

Neither one of them needed to be told twice. Nodding, Zero ran from the room, nearly tripping over Forte. Once she was decently far away, she hunched over, spitting up blood, then proceeded to vomit. 

"... Zero?" Forte went up behind her, placing a hand on her back. "Damnit Zero... I tried, but I couldn't..."

"I know." Standing straight, she turned around and gave him a crooked smile. "But, ya know, at least you tried. And you did stop him... in a way. Hopefully he'll be too drunk to remember when we get back."

"One can pray."

__

But can one really, she mused as they walked along the hallways of the fortress. Gospel and Waltz were down on one of the lower levels, and it would practically be suicide to go without their SUs*. _Can a bioroid, or a reploid, hope, or pray? Aren't they just programmed emotions? And do we really pray? Does god exist for us?_

... damnit, my thoughts are getting too deep.

Shaking her head, she grinned slightly. "Is Waltz in your room, or mine?" she asked, wincing. The wound had already started clotting, and the movement of her jaw had ripped it open again, on both the inside and the out. Blood trickled down the side of her face as it filled her mouth. _Not pleasant_. 

"She was with Gospel last time I checked, so mine." Seeing her face, Forte added: "Maybe you should go to your room and take care of that while I get them." 

Zero nodded. "Mmm," was the only reply she made as she turned and walked in another direction. _You can be a bastard sometimes but... thank you Forte._

***

Damnit, why now of all times? Swearing to himself mentally, Blues tried to concentrate on his job: Find Forte.

He, and some mysterious red robot which, after five minutes of yelling at the TV and calling up the station to say no, uh-uh, that was not him, was yet to be named, were at downtown Tokyo. Destroying buildings left and right.

The usual.

So, of course, he and Rock went off to stop them. And they had split up with Rock searching the air with Rush, and Blues being left by himself. 

__

I pray that Rock finds you first Forte. Because I know that I would have to fight you... and I would hate myself if I hurt you.

There always had to be some sort of big complication in someone's life, right? Well, here was the one for Rock and Forte: They loved each other. What were they supposed to do? Neither one could fight their programming indefinitely, if at all. So they couldn't stop fighting. But neither one ever seemed greatly damaged after a fight...

__

I wonder what my great complication will be? Or will I not have one? Could my life really be **that** dull?

Blues' pondering was cut short, though, by a plasma blast that was a little too close to his head for comfort. Whirling around, he raised his buster, intent on firing upon the attacker...

... only to see a black and gray dog, sitting, with its head cocked to the side. 

He frowned, walking towards the dog. _Now, there's just no way that a dog could have done that. Except if it was a robot and made by Wily. But... this looks too realistic..._

Upon closer inspection, the 'dog' appeared to be more of a wolf. A very calm and tame wolf. "... what the hell are you?"

"My SU."

Mentally kicking himself for being so stupid, Blues prepared himself for an attack. Buster ready, he jumped forward and turned in mid air, landing just behind the wolf, arm raised. 

The person, the red robot, didn't move. 

"Who are you?" he asked, eyes narrowing.

"I am..." it, he, hesitated. "... I am Zero."

"Zero, huh?" There was something wrong... for one thing, the armor that this 'Zero' had one was, in a word, simply amazing. The boots were more aero-dynamic, being far more skin-tight then any robot's he had seen thus far, and the metal...

He couldn't identify it.

"What the hell are you?"

"... huh."

__

What the hell? Huh?

And suddenly, Zero leapt forward. For once, Blues was caught off guard by an attack. He made to jump to go over the plasma burst, but there wasn't one.

Instead, Zero pulled something off of his back and pressed a button. A beam of plasma came out of it and he attacked Blues with that, swiping it across his chest. Completely off guard, it struck full force, tearing away at his armor, centimeters away from cutting into his chest.

"Why do you fight?"

The question, just like the attack, was un-expected. "Why do you think I fight?" Blues snapped back, eyes blazing. "I fight so innocent people won't be killed by people like you!"

"... huh."

__

That same reply! What the hell is the deal with this robot? Or... is it a bioroid?

"You shouldn't try to think so much in a battle. It distracts you. I don't want to be unfair."

Blues could only nod dumbly at that. A Wily 'bot... that wanted a fair fight? That was insane!

__

Maybe not though... Zero hadn't attacked him when he was vulnerable before and, judging from his obvious skill with the... the sword?, he had stopped just short of actually harming him before.

"Why do you work for Wily?"

"I was created by him." And that was the end of any conversation. Frowning, Zero charged him again. Only this time, Blues knew what to expect.

Firing a blast straight at Zero's chest, he prepared to either jump or duck the attack.

Yet, instead of dodging to the side, Zero leapt _over_ the blast. And he didn't jump once. Already in mid air, he jumped again, and went to attack him from the air, blade sweeping down. Blues had milli-seconds to move back before he was in pieces.

Rolling to the side, Blues raised his buster to fire again. _He'd just dodge it again... damnit, for once there's an enemy that's too fast! _But there had to be some way to get to him... something... He grinned. 

"Hey, Red Boy!" He called, standing up. "How much do you care about your doggy?"

"What do you mean?" Zero paused, sabre ready. 

"Cause he's about to become scrap metal." With that, Blues fired the blast at the wolf. Judging from the distance between them, he doubted that there would be enough time for it to move far enough away to be safe from the blast. 

"No!" The reaction shocked him, for some reason. _I guess I didn't think he would care that much..._ Screaming incoherently, Zero ran and slammed into the SU, allowing himself to be wide open for the shot. Which ripped the armor on his side and shoulder wide open, throwing him back a couple feet, slammed his head into the ground, and successfully knocked him out. 

__

... that was... unexpected... to say the least... wow...

***

__

Mistress! Waltz bounded forward, intent on getting to the side of Zero. _Mistress, are you okay? _Whimpering slightly, she nuzzled her cheek, giving her face a lick.

There was no response.

__

No! Waltz might have been only a robotic wolf, technically a lupoid, but her intelligence was that of a human. And when her mistress wasn't moving...

That meant that she was either badly injured or dead. And neither one was good, the latter being worse. 

There were footsteps behind her, and Waltz turned her head, snarling. It was the man who had tried to hurt her, the man that had hurt Zero! Baring her teeth, she snapped at him.

"Woah! C'mon, I didn't mean to hurt him that badly! I just didn't want him to hurt me!"

__

Him? She cocked her head to the side, considering. _He thinks that mistress is a master. How...?_ The growling subsided as the turned and laid down on Zero's chest. _You will not hurt mistress..._

"What are you, anyways?" The man knelt beside her and gently pat her head. "Zero called you an SU, but you're too smart to be one. Then again, that guy didn't seem like any normal robot."

__

Reploid, not a robot, you fool.

"Hmm... look, I need to see if he's alive. Well, I know he's alive, but... C'mon dog, move, will ya?"

__

I do not trust you! Waltz bared her teeth again, snapping at his outstretched hand. _You will not touch her! I will not let you!_

Unfortunately the man, being, as foible as it was, human-like, didn't understand what her snarls meant. He rolled back onto his heels, a confused look on his face. "What is your problem, anyways?"

|_Let him help her|_

She raised her head, intent on finding the source of the voice. It sounded familiar, and like it was coming from her own mind, but only one could...

"Blues."

__

Forte! Jumping to her feet, Waltz gave a howl of joy. Mistress' brother was here! Surely, he would help her. 

"Take her away."

"Her? Zero's a he?"

"... yea... please... Don't let her come back."

"I don't get-"

"You don't need to." There was a pause, and the ebony warrior walked over to Waltz, crouching down and petting her. "You have to go with Zero. Don't fight Blues, Rock, or Roll... and don't fight with Rush... too much."

__

I don't understand! Her eyes widened and she whimpered, pitifully. _What's going on?_

Forte gave her a small smile. "I think I can guess what you're trying to say... I need to protect her... and I can't if she's... you know what he does."

__

... I know... Sighing, the wolf hung her head. _I don't understand, but I will go with her. And protect her._

Nodding to himself, Forte stood up. "She's all yours Blues. Take good care of her."

"But I don't understand what's going on!"

"You weren't supposed to." And with that, he teleported out, leaving Blues alone. With Waltz. And the unconscious Zero.

"This is just great... what the hell am I supposed to do _now_?"

*Support Unit


	2. 2

AN: Anyone remember this story? Well, I really don't blame you if you say 'no' to that. I gave this story what, an eight month rest? @_@ Bad me! No matter though. Here's the second chapter… third should be coming out soon.

The first thing that Zero really could focus on when she woke up was the intense pain the danced up and down her right shoulder. The second thing was the throbbing pain in her head. The third was that she was lying in some bed somewhere. And it wasn't her own. And the fourth…

She wasn't wearing her own clothing. Instead of the blue jeans and red shirt that she always wore, someone had taken them and replaced it with an overlarge white T-shirt that nearly came down to her knees. It wasn't as if she was naked, but still, the thought of someone touching her and removing her clothing wa-

"I see you're awake! Hello!"

Sitting up quickly, Zero winced and pulled the covers up around her. Moving made the pain far more intense, but she wasn't just going to lie there while some stranger was in the room. 

"Oh, lay back down now! You're going to rip your shoulder open again!" The speaker, a young looking girl with blond hair and large blue eyes, walked over to her, gently forcing her back. "There. I'm not going to hurt you. And before you ask, I was the one that changed your clothing. Don't worry, neither Blues nor Rock saw you."

"Rock? Blues?" Eyes widening, Zero sat up again, fear evident in her eyes. "But, they're Light's creations! If they're here then…" She stared at the girl. "You're Roll, aren't you?"

"Yes, indeed, I am Roll. And please, for the love of God, lay down! I'm not going to repair your arm _again_ if you damage it." Scowling slightly, she turned and started straightening the room up, muttering under her breath about the 'goddamned obstinate ways of the Wily 'bots'. 

"You're Roll." Zero repeated this, still staring at the girl. "Why… why am I here? I mean, I tried to kill Blues yesterday. Why are you helping me at all?"

Roll stopped, shaking her head. "You just have to keep on questioning everything, don't you? No matter…" Turning around, she gave an exasperated sigh. "If you want me to tell you anything, you're going to have to lay down! Now!"

Not wanting to anger her, and knowing that trying to defy your enemy while your were currently injured and half-naked in their house was a stupid thing, Zero complied. "So… why am I here?"

"That's a damn good question, because if I had been Blues, I would have left you out on the streets to die. Or for Forte to take you back with him." Roll snorted. "It's just plain stupid to be helping any Wily bot out… but Forte asked Blues if he would take you here."

_What…?_ Confusion filled Zero's mind. _Forte asked for me to be taken here? Why?! I mean… that would get me away from Wily… but that would get him into so much trouble… Forte, you stupid idiot!_

Unbeknownst to her, tears began to fill Zero's eyes at the thought of what would happen to Forte once Wily found out that she was missing. Startled by that reaction, Roll bit her lower lip, struggling to find something to say. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to upset you," was all she could think of.

"Oh, no… no…" Shaking her head, Zero wiped the tears away. "It's not what you said… It's just that, Forte. I don't know what Wily's going to do to him… when Wily finds out that Forte helped to get me away from him." _Helped to make him stop beating me_. Seeing Roll open her mouth to say something, she added: "I'm a little tired… I think I'm going to go to sleep now."

Roll nodded, turned, and left the room, leaving behind a very confused, frustrated, and frightened Zero. 

_What's going to happen to me now…?_

***

"She's _where_?" Forte winced at the sound of Wily's voice. He hadn't been looking forward to telling him that he had lost Zero, but he hadn't thought that he would react this badly.

"She's… I don't know. I was fighting Rock, but he suddenly left. After that, I couldn't find Zero anywhere. I think that maybe Blues might have captured her," he lied, keeping a straight face. _Believe me, you bastard. Just believe me, yell at me, and let me go. I don't like the way you're looking at me…_

"Are you _sure_ that's what happened Forte?" There was an odd look in Wily's eye, a questioning, disbelieving, you-better-tell-me-the-truth-because-I-already-know-it look. "Are you sure that… something else didn't happen?"

"No… yes. I'm positive that that's all that happened." _He can't possibly know what really happened, can he? I mean, it's not possible that he would know. _Sweating slightly from worry, Forte struggled not to let any emotion besides boredom show through. 

"And where, then, is Waltz?"

He froze, thinking fast. "She… she must have left with them. You know that Waltz would never leave Zero." _Just like Gospel would never leave me_, he added mentally. _Now just drop the subject! _

"Are you sure she wasn't… I don't know, asked maybe? By someone? To stay with Zero? To allow Blues to take Zero back with him?" The old man began to grin, a sick, twisted grin. "Are you sure that there isn't something that you want to tell me Forte?"

"No, Wily. Nothing." He knew, Goddamnit, he knew! It was hell trying to keep a straight face, trying not to let him know that he was hounding him. _How did he find out? How did he?!_

"Poor poor Forte." Shaking his head, Wily walked over to a large monitor. "I knew that you would try to do something like this one day. Which is why, when I was repairing Gospel one day, I installed a camera into his optical sensors. So I could watch you. And do you know what I found out today?"

Forte swallowed hard, refusing to allow himself to break. _He could just be bluffing, you know. He may not be telling the truth…_"No, sir… you found me fighting Rock?"

Wily cackled gleefully. "Tricky tricky! But you're not going to fool me this time. I have all the proof I need right here." With that, he pressed a button on the bottom of the monitor, turning in on. Pressing another one, a small video clip began to play.

A sick feeling washed over him as he watched everything from Gospel's point of view. The battle between him and Rock, the sudden stop in the battle, him rushing over to find his sister, unconscious, him talking to Blues, talking to Waltz… He groaned, without realizing it. _That bastard! That mother-fucking bastard! He's been spying on me this entire time!_

"Not only did I find out that you're in a relationship with Rock-" Forte flinched upon hearing that. "-I find out that you helped Zero run away. With Blues. Now tell me Forte, why did you do that?"

For a moment, Forte stood there, staring at Wily's back. Part of him wanted to tell him exactly why he did he, what he thought of him, how he wanted to kill him. The wiser, more sensible part was telling him to say nothing. Nothing at all. 

"I'm waiting."

That did it. Rage filled him and, before he could think, everything spilled out: "I did it because you beat her! You beat her when she does nothing wrong! She screws up on missions slightly, and you try to kill her for it! Why do you treat her like that?!"

Something hard and heavy greeted the side of his head. Reeling back, he clutched her head, moaning slightly from pain. "You will not question what I do, boy." Wily's voice was amused. "You will do as I command… you will get that bitch for me. You will not question me."

Forte would have argued with him. It he didn't black out from something else connected with his head.

***

"If you touch him, you'll die."

It wasn't much of a threat, and both of them knew that. The wolf-bot stared at Rock; green eyes locking into blue, questioning. 

"No, seriously dog, I will. You do _not_ attack Rush."

Waltz rolled over onto her back, exposing her stomach, and tucked her tail between her legs. _Please, I'll be good, just don't make me go. I need to stay here, where Mistress is_.

Rock sighed and ran a hand through his short, black hair. "If only I knew your name, Dog. This would make this so much easier."

_My name is Waltz!_ Jumping to her feet, the gray-ish black lupoid wagged her tail, grinning ever so slightly. _Waltz! If Mistress comes out, she can tell you._

Rock blinked, confused. "Dude, dog, do you understand me? Bark once for yes and twice for no."

She barked, wagging her tail even more. _Yes yes, I understand! Now let me see Mistress, you stupid robot!_

"Woah… dude, even _Rush_ isn't this smart. Maybe I should let you meet him." 

"Or maybe not." 

***

Starling, Rock turned around to see the girl, Zero, standing there. She smiled slightly at him, but it was obvious that it was forced. She still wore the T-shirt, though he hoped that Roll had given her a pair of shorts or something to wear underneath them.

"I'm sorry I scared you… just, having Waltz meet with Rush without me being there might end with some casualties. She isn't a very nice wolf sometimes." She walked over to the wolf-bot, crouching down and stroking her head.

"Huh, I guess that makes sense. After all, she is _your_ dog and…" Rock's voice trailed off as he stared at her. When Blues had brought her in, her shoulder had been ripped wide open. Since Doc was busy working on something else, and Blues wasn't exactly looking forward to telling him that a Wily-bot was now staying with them, they had Roll stitch it up to keep it closed until they got around to informing Doc.

But now there was no sign that there ever had been any wound on her shoulder, let alone stitches. "Who are you?" He demanded, jumping up from his position on the floor. "You're not Zero!"

The girl blinked at him. "I'm not Zero? Well, that's news to me, because last time I checked, I was… why do you think I'm not Zero, anyways?" She placed her hand on the wolf-bot, Waltz's, muzzle. "You behave," she ordered.

_I don't get this_, he thought, frowning. _She _can't_ be Zero because even Bioroids can't heal themselves that fast. But… how could Wily have snuck a double in here when we weren't watching? _"Your wound. It's healed."

"… yes, I know. Android's, apparently, have a very high healing rate. Ya know, the repairation of one's own body? … that's not a word, goddamnit."

Rock stared at her blankly. "… Android? You're an android?" _What's an Android? Is that a new type of Bioroid?_

Zero nodded, looking down at the floor. "I was one of Wily's experiments. I failed, of course, but in a way that's rather ironic. I'm too human like, which is what Wily wanted, so I never listen to him, which is why For-" Eyes widening, she stopped and looked up at him. "I shouldn't be telling you this! You're one of Light's creations!"

"Yeah, I am," he agreed wryly, sitting back down on the floor. "In fact, I'm one of his most famous creations. I'm Rock… or MegaMan."

He had honestly thought it wasn't possibly for her eyes to get any wider. _Shows how wrong I am_, he thought, grinning slightly at the sight of her sitting there, eyes bugged out, jaw dropped, hand still resting on Waltz's muzzle. The wolf-bot was growling, hackles raised. "You're… Waltz, I told you, be_have_," Zero ordered, turning her attention from Rock to the wolf. 

Rock sighed, shaking his head. "Zero, I'm not going to hurt you. Whatever reasons Blues had for taking you here, well… they're his own, because he hasn't told us them yet. But I trust him. I can't say that I trust you, but I'm not going to hurt you." _Like I could ever trust you. You're a Wily bot… or android. I can't even fully trust Forte, as much as I want to…_

"I know why Blues took me here. And he hasn't told you because he doesn't really understand why he did it himself." Standing up, she gave Waltz a final pat, then turned her full attention to him. "Where could I find him? I need to speak to him."

Rock frowned, thinking. "Well, usually, I'd say you _couldn't_ find him… by now, he would probably be off in town somewhere. But, today, I think he's out back…"

"Thanks. Oh, and… just don't touch Waltz. I've told her to behave," Zero paused for a moment to glare at the wolf-bot. "But, she's a damned stubborn lupoid, and if she thinks I'm in trouble, she'll attack." She left, without even bothering to ask for directions on how to get 'out back.'

_What's a lupoid? And why do I have a bad feelings about all of this?_

***

A strong wind blew, grabbing at his short hair and tossing it every which was. Long having given up on trying to keep it neat, he stared at the sunset, deep in thought.

_I know that Forte trusts us more than Wily does. I mean, he would have to, right? Since he loves Rock… but he doesn't even fully trust Rock. He can't, because of his programming. So why would he send his sister out here with us? _Blues sighed, shaking his head. _It just doesn't make sense. _

… unless he wanted to get her away from Wily. But why? I mean, yes, she's a female… He shuddered, making a noise of disgust. "And that's just sick. Ugh… though I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Wily had been using her for that."

"Using who for what?" 


	3. 3

AN: ::sobs:: I guess you all did forget about me… but, then again, I asked for it by being horrible and not updated in _forever_. One, most likely two more chapters after this… I hope whoever's reading this is enjoying this *eep*

She smiled at him, strands of golden hair falling forward and framing her body. Ignoring the inner voice that told her to run, and run like hell, she walked forward and sat down next to him, inconspicuously pulling the T-shirt down. "Were you talking about me?" she asked, giving him another smile.

Blues stared at her, completely lost for words. "You… how… you… how?" he managed weakly. Zero laughed lightly.

"How? Um… how am I out here? Rock told me that you were out here. How I found my way out here? Remember when Forte got in here via Rock and being tricky? Well, Doctor Wily downloaded the layout of the house from him and programmed it into me. How I'm up? Well… all my ouchies are mostly healed, and I was getting frustrated from just lying around in bed all day." _That, and I need to know if Forte had said anything to you… and I need to explain_. Her smile never wavered, never revealed her true emotions.

"I see," was all Blues could say to that. Running his fingers through his hair, he turned his gaze from her to the sunset. Something didn't feel quite right about this, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what. After a long pause, he added: "Why are you out here?"

Zero bit her lower lip, wondering how to answer that. There was another long pause as both of them sat there, unsure of what to say. Finally, just as Blues was opening his mouth to say something else, she responded, quietly. "What did... what did Forte say to you?"

He looked at her sharply, frowning. "What do you mean by that? Wasn't this all planned by you, another trick by Dr. Wily to break in here?"

"Actually, no," she responded dryly, picking at the grass. With a sigh, she opened her hand and let the wind pull the strands away from her, watching as the green swirled and danced in the sky. "This wasn't planned. In fact, I didn't know this was going to happen, and neither did Forte, until you happened to, well, provide the perfect opportunity."

"Opportunity for what?" Blues was curious, despite the fact that he knew he shouldn't be. There was something about her that caught his attention, and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get her out of his mind. "What are you going do to?"

Zero frowned, pulling some more grass up. "Dr. Light loves you very much, doesn't she?"

Her question caught him off guard. Taking a moment to think about that, he answered, hesitantly: "Yeah, he does... but why? Why does that matter?"

"Dr. Wily doesn't love us. At all. In fact, I'd go as far as to say he hates me." Her tone was matter-of-fact, devoid of all emotion. "He hates me because I can choose not to listen to him, which I, though Forte often begs me not to, don't."

Blues stared at her, confused. "Wait, what did you just say?"

Shaking her head, Zero laughed. "I said that I don't listen to Wily. But Forte wants me to. Because

when I don't obey, Wily gets mad. And when Wily gets mad, bad things happen to you. Trust me Blues, the wound that you gave me today... or was it yesterday? The wound you gave me is nothing in comparison to some of the injuries I've received from Wily." Her expression, which had been happy and cheerful at the start of her speech, grew somber. "I think... I think that's why I'm here."

There was another long silence as Blues tried to digest what she just said. Sighing, Zero pulled her knees up to her chest and leaned forward, burying her face in her arms. _I hate this... I'm so scared. Forte, why did you leave me here? I can't do this without you. I need you._

"He sent you here..." It took her a moment to realize that Blues was talking. Blinking, she lifted her head from her arms and looked at him. "He sent you here because... he was worried about you?"

Zero nodded, feeling tears suddenly well up in her eyes. "He was worried b-but..." She stopped and took a deep breath, cursing herself for stammering, and cursing herself for being emotional. _You're a _Wily_ bot girl! Wily bots don't cry! Of course,_ she added with a slight grin, _Wily bots also aren't girls._ "But, when Wily finds out that I'm gone, I'm afraid..."

She stopped completely this time, with absolutely no intention of continuing. Her voice caught in her throat, and the tears, which were still gathering, broke free and slid down her face. She had known, all this time, what would face Forte when he was found out, but it was only now that she actually _thought_ about it... "Forte..."

***

Blues tried his best to ignore her. The information that she had provided was useful, yes, but beyond that there was no point in getting to know her.

_How are you supposed to ignore a girl when she starts sobbing right next to you_? Shaking his head, he frowned. "What's wrong?" he asked in his roughest voice, trying to make her stop.

Zero didn't respond, however. Her shoulders were shaking; if it weren't for the fact that he had _seen_ her start to cry, he would have thought that she was merely being unsociable. "No, seriously, Zero, what's wrong?" A pleading tone crept into his voice unintentionally.

"Nothing. Just... nothing." Inhaling deeply, Zero wiped her face with her sleeve, lifting her head and looking at him.

"You look terrible," Blues said flatly. "Your eyes are bright, and I mean bright, red."

This got the desired result from her, which was a laugh, thought somewhat shaky. Smiling slightly, she went to stand. "You're not as bad as I thought you would be."

Acting upon impulse, Blues grabbed her wrist, prohibiting her from rising. "Zero, tell me, why were you crying? What's wrong with Forte?" Seeing her distrustful look, he added: "I have a right to know, seeing as he's in a relationship with my little brother."

Zero relaxed almost immediately and smiled again, somewhat stronger. "Rock's told you?" She asked, sitting herself back down.

"Yeah. I mean, after Forte made his first move, Rock was a little confused..." Letting go of her wrist, Blues screwed his face up and adopted a soprano tone. "'Blues, what does it mean when another guy kisses you and touches your ass?'"

Zero snorted, covering her mouth with the back of her hand to keep from laughing outloud. "He honestly asked you that?" she questioned, eyes dancing.

"Yes. And then was deeply shocked and disturbed when I told him. And then asked if all football players were gay."

This time she couldn't stop herself from laughing. Giggling madly, Zero fell back, stretching her arms out and staring up at the sky. Not for the first time, Blues couldn't help but notice that, whether he meant to or not, Wily did create a beautiful girl.

_Who's probably nothing more than a liar and a cheat_, he had to forcibly remind himself. "Zero... so... why were you upset earlier?"

Zero sobered instantly, closing her eyes. "Like I said before Blues, Wily doesn't hesitate when there's a chance to beat one of his creations." Her voice began to tremble as she spoke, and rose steadily. "W-what do you think is g-going to happen to him once Wily finds out...?" She bit down on her lower lip, hard.

Blues was silent for a moment, trying to come up with something to say to that. "Well… Forte is a very resourceful person… I'm sure that nothing'll happen to him," he finished rather lamely. In all reality he felt that Zero's worries were well grounded, and probably would come true.

She sat up, opening her eyes and staring straight at him. He was startled by how _bright_ the blue was, and was a little disquieted at the way it felt. _Can she see through my shades?_ "You don't know that. You don't know Wily. He'll… he'll…" Unable to finish her statement, Zero covering her face with her hands and burst into tears.

"Zero…" Placing a hand on her shoulder, Blues gently pulled her towards him, hugging her. The action was foreign to him, something that he doubted he would have ever done even to his own siblings. She responded, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his chest, her body shaking. "Zero, shh… everything will turn out okay…

***

"Well well well, isn't _this_ interesting…" Leaning forward, a small smile played over her lips as she watched the scene play out. _And here I am, worrying that my dear elder brother may be gay…_

"What are you doing?"

"Eeek!" 

Startled, Roll fell backwards off the chair she had been using to stand on, spying upon Blues and Zero. Landing hard on her butt, she glared upwards at her brother, who merely grinned at her.

"So, what _were_ you doing up there?"

Instead of answering him, she stood up, brushing imaginary specks of dust off of her skirt. "If you insist upon knowing," she started, still glaring at him, "maybe you shouldn't have scared me that badly."

"Aww, come on!" Rock pleaded with her, giving Roll his 'puppy dog' eyes. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just didn't know you were so engrossed with whatever it was that you wouldn't notice me behind you."

"Wouldn't notice you creeping up behind me, you mean."

"… yeah well, that too."

Shaking her head, Roll turned and grabbed the chair, walking it back over to the table. "Well, that just means that I'm not going to tell you then. You'll learn from your mistakes, soon enough."

"Rooooll!" Rock whined, sighing. "Why won't you just tell me?"

It was Roll's turn to grin, sticking her tongue out at him. "I really wasn't doing anything. Just… watching…" With that she left the room, leaving behind a thoroughly confused Rock.

"… why are woman all just so… confusing?"

***

His grip on the passage of time wasn't the best; he was a wolf, after all. Wolves went by the passing of the sun and the moon, and inside this dreary and windowless dungeon, one couldn't rely on such things. However, he could tell when too much time had passed.

And too much time had passed now, indeed.

Frustrated, Gospel paced back and forth, stopping occasionally to nuzzle his master's hand. There was no response; there hadn't been one for a couple days. Whining, he stood up and placed his front paws on the edge of the metal table, nudging his master's shoulder.

Still, no response. He hadn't really expected one.

Dropping back down, Gospel allowed his eyes to drop, his tail dragging on the floor. Never before had his master acted in such a way, and the only time he had ever seen Waltz's mistress act this way was when she was being programmed.

__

But Master already is_ programmed_, he thought, a frown forming over his lips, causing him to bare his teeth. _So why would he be being reprogrammed, if that's what's happening. That doesn't make any sense._

Then again, I'm nothing more than an animal. Maybe I just can't grasp what's really happening. But as hard as he tried to convince himself of that, he just couldn't believe it. There was something terribly wrong with this situation.

A sharp pain lanced through his head and, with a small yelp, Gospel rubbed his face against the concrete floor, struggling to make it go away. In a few seconds the pain began to fade, leaving behind just a small, lingering effect.

_And that… ever since I was last repaired, that pain… _Another whine came from his as he sat down, his tail stirring up plumes of dust. Nothing seemed at all natural about this situation. Nothing. 

***

"So, tell me again, you're a… er… android?"

The girl nodded, looking down at the ground. Drumming his fingers against the table, Doctor Light began to furiously write something down on a piece of paper, a smile playing across his lips. "This is amazing! I can't believe it! An android!"

"Er…" Stunned, the girl blinked, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "What's so amazing about me being an android?"

It had been a week since Zero had come to the Light house, and in all that time, Light had never found time to do a complete scan over her. Now that he had time, and that he remembered she was here, he had been examining everything about her, amazed and completely overjoyed. 

"Wily must have used those plans that he copied from me… but that doesn't matter… this shows that the plans work! This is incredible! You, my dear girl, are the first of a new type of robot. One that can think for itself, completely ignoring any need of basic programming from its creator!" Beaming, Light smiled at her, completely missing the fact that she was totally confused. "You are the first, well, first working robot of your kind!"


	4. 4

Gospel whined as he paced along the length of a waist-high table. The room was dark – the only light left on was an old flickering naked bulb that was dangling on its last legs – but he didn't need to see to know that his Master was still lying unconscious on the table. He could smell him, an odor that was rapidly fading as something other than his Master was replacing him. For more than two weeks his Master had been lying there, and for more than two weeks Wily had been coming and going, tinkering almost gleefully with the helpless bioroid, and for more than two weeks Gospel had been able to do nothing but sit and wait. If it had been possible he would have been sick from worry by now, but neither emotion was programmed into his databanks.

Bright florescent lights flared on suddenly and Gospel whined, lowering his head as his optics adjusted to the change in light. Dr. Wily entered but instead of heading toward his Master's body he went to a large computer console. "Today should be the day," he mused aloud, fingers moving rapidly over the keyboard. Wily glanced back at Gospel and smiled a wide, mad grin. "Today's the big day Gospel! You and Forte, you'll be back out there. I'm sure you've been waiting on pins and needles for this."

It wasn't possible for him to feel dread, but something close wormed its way through Gospel's mind. He whined again and looked up at his Master's prone body, nuzzling the side of one hand. Whatever was replacing his Master would wake today, then. Nothing good would come of this.

* * *

"And just one more test, I want to see if your neural processors match the blue prints I had created for X…"

Zero sighed as Dr. Light mumbled away to himself, tottering about his laboratory as he wrote, typed, measured and performed more tasks at once than she had believed an old human could. His fascination with her had yet to fade since his discovery that she was a walking, talking, and working android. If anything his excitement had grown; the tests, the studies, the endless possibilities of revising and improving his own android, one he had already named 'X', were almost too much for him to take. _The old man is so sweet but I'm not sure how much more of this I can take._

Footsteps clunked down the steps to his lab and Zero glanced over to see Roll. She smiled conspiratorially at Zero and winked before adopting an expression of daughterly innocence. "Dr. Light? I'm sorry about interrupting but Blues and Rock are gone and I could _really_ use some help upstairs…" She let her voice trail off as she looked imploringly at her father.

Caught off guard, the old man muttered to himself a moment before nodding. "Ah, yes yes. Zero, go up with Roll now. Just, when you're done, if you could come back down?" He looked at Zero a moment before heading off to work on another project of his. She wasn't entirely sure about all the specifications but they seemed to be armor and weapon upgrades for X. The old man sure seemed to be a pacifist but she admired his sensibility.

"Of course," Zero said quickly, hopping down from the examination table. She smiled gratefully up as Roll as she jogged up the stairs. Once the door to the lab was shut – it was made of a reinforced titanium alloy in case anyone tried to break in ( or out, Zero supposed ) that also served for soundproofing – the two girls looked at each other and broke down, giggling. "Oh, Dr. Light," she mimicked, adopting an expression similar to Roll's pitiful waif. "Oh, all the men are gone and poor little ol' me, I can't do work on my _own_."

"Like you weren't just begging for any excuse to get out of there," Roll retorted, playfully smacking her on the shoulder. Zero followed her into the kitchen, still grinning from her amusement. "Besides, I really _could_ use some help. I'll wash, you dry."

"Oh, geeze." Zero shook her head. "I'm a killing machine who's being reduced to doing the _dishes_? Is Rod Serling hiding outside behind the bushes?"

"If he was this would probably be the most boring episode ever." Roll twisted the water on to a nice steaming hot temperature, too warm to be anything but painful for a human but perfectly fine for her. "Zero, an ordinary Wily killing machine, now a domesticated house robot in _The Twilight Zone_," she intoned mysteriously. Zero rolled her eyes at that.

The two lapsed into silence quickly, the only sounds in the kitchen the murmur from the running water and the occasional clatter from the dishes. Even though she had been with the Lights for over two weeks now it would be a stretch to say that Zero was comfortable there with them, or that they were even comfortable with her. Everyone was on constant guard – would she attack, was this all a ploy, maybe she's just a fancy Trojan horse. Zero would have been more amused by their silly fears if she wasn't so preoccupied with thoughts of Forte. It wasn't like Wily to go so long without trying to break into some high security building or attack some high powered official. There had been nothing… which meant something had gone wrong.

"So, Zero," Roll said after several minutes; the dishes were almost done and the awkward silence was getting to be too much for her. "You know, you and Blues seem to be getting really… friendly."

"Really?" Zero said, blinking once. "I hadn't noticed."

"So you don't… I mean…" Zero looked over at Roll, eyes wide in disbelief.

"No! Why would you even think that? No, I don't want, I have no interest, he's a… you know, this is all fine and dandy but he's my enemy. He's always going to be my enemy as long as Wily is around and I've seen how much it's torn Rock and Forte apart trying to love and kill each at the same time," she said flatly. "I'm not fool enough to think that love would conquer all."

Roll looked back down at her hands, washing the last dish of any vestige of dirt or grime. "… oh." Now instead of an awkward silence there was a tense one and she mentally kicked herself for opening her mouth.

The front door opened and slammed shut. Zero whirled around quickly to see both Rock and Blues come into the kitchen. Rock looked almost sick while Blues only seemed angry. "What happened? Aren't you back early?"

"Yeah, no thanks to your worthless backstabbing brother," Blues spat out, causing both Rock and Roll to wince. Zero twisted the towel in her hands and glared at him. "We were out, he wants-"

"He found us while we were out in town," Rock said softly…

_Rock looked around the food court with muted amazement, overjoyed at spending the day out with his older brother. People milled about, ignoring them both completely – without their armor on they looked like two ordinary teenage boys. Almost identical teenage boys, but nothing you would write home about. It was incredibly relaxing seeing everything so at peace. Blues almost seemed comfortable… which, of course, was completely against the rules._

"_Soo… when are you going to ask her out?" Blues ignored Rock's question, causing the younger boy to grin. He peeled the paper cover from around his straw half-way down and blew into it hard, hitting Blues in the middle of the forehead with the rest of the wrapper. _

"_If I had known you were going to-"_

"_You were ignoring me!" Rock protested, causing Blues to glare balefully at him but settle himself back down in his chair. "Come on, I'm just curious. Everyone knows you're going to, I just wanna know when."_

"_I am __**not**__ going to!"_

"_I bet you write sappy love poems to her and then chicken out when you want to give them to her. You're too afraid of her rejection." _

_Before Blues could angrily reject Rock's crazy ideas there was a suddenly loud crash followed by a roar of terrified screams. Both 'bots jumped to their feet and looked at the center of the food court. There was Forte, dark violet wings curling about his body from his merger with Gospel. He looked up and grinned wickedly at them before firing a shot. The plasma bolt missed both of them completely but ripped through the body of a young female child. "You bastard!"_

"_Flattery will get you no where," Forte hissed at Blues. The older of the two Lights activated his armor and went to attack when Forte held a hand up. One wing curled back to reveal a human child huddled against his side. "Do you want another death on your hands? I know you're hiding her. Bring her back to me..." _

Zero's expression was unreadable as Rock went through the story. Blues continued to glare at her, mentally blaming her for everything that had happened. "So… I have to go then."

"What, are you stupid?" Blues burst out. "This is a trap! It screams trap! You go to him and something horrific will-"

"Or maybe it's not a trap," she shot back. "Maybe Wily's forcing him to do this, maybe he had to lie so that Wily didn't kill him, maybe he had no choice! You think everything's so neat and easy, that right is right and wrong is wrong and everything has only one right answer!" Blues laughed at that, refusing to listen to what she was saying. "Even if this was a trap I still would go. And you can't stop me."

Roll feared for a moment that the two would launch themselves at each other, fear and anger misplaced for the moment. _After all, there's only a thin line between love and hate…_ "Wait. If this is a trap it's most likely one to try to get Zero back. Dr. Light could install an emergency transport clearance so that if anything starts going too sour she could come back to the lab. Forte can't get her in here."

Blues nodded grudgingly and turned to Rock. "Let's get ready," he said quietly, helping his younger brother up. Rock nodded slowly, still in shock over seeing what Forte had done. Blues glanced back at Zero before leaving the room, staring meaningfully at her. If anything happened to Rock, if he was really scarred over all of this, someone would _have_ to pay…

* * *

It didn't take much convincing for Dr. Light to go ahead and install the emergency transport override. It had been attached to her neural processors in the back of her neck and the freshly bandage wound itched maddeningly so. Zero wanted to rip her helmet off and scratch away, but Blues' death glares kept her from doing any sudden movements. She knew she could take him one-on-one easily but a surprise shot to the ribs would take her down for the count. That would probably be counterproductive for trying to get Forte to calm down.

The mall was eerily silent when Rock, Blues, and Zero warped in. They were in a store by the food court; hopefully Forte hadn't seen or felt their energy discharge when they came in, but nobody was really hoping for a surprise attack. "Zero, you're going to follow our lead. I don't care what he does or says you're going to stay behind us and let us do all the talking. Got it?" Zero rolled her eyes at Blues' little speech but nodded. She didn't intend on obeying any of his crazy rules but stirring the pot now wouldn't help anyone.

Forte was still in the center of the food court. He was standing but his head was down, chin tucked against the chest of his armor. He looked up hearing the three enter and grinned widely. "You listened. You did the smart thing. Now give her to me."

"Let the child go first," Rock shouted. Forte frowned a moment before shrugging.

"Very well." Spreading his wings he shoved the child's body away. It simply fell to the ground, head twisted about. "He was getting so very mouthy and wouldn't listen to me. What else could I do?"

_You sick bastard,_ Blues thought as he clenched one fist. His hand withdrew back into his arm, expanding as it transformed into a plasma buster. Killing the child destroyed any chance of a peaceful – at least, relatively so – resolution and he was determined to scrap Forte once and for all, his relationship with Rock be damned. Zero shoved him to the side though, offsetting his balance and delaying the weapon charge. "Forte, no!"

"Zero!" Blues cursed as Forte grinned. The maniacal Wily 'bot spread his arms as if welcoming his sister in for a hug. Zero stopped short of him and then all hell broke loose.

Blues started forward to stop Zero.

Rock grabbed Blues, afraid he was going to hurt Forte.

Zero stepped forward slowly, reaching out for Forte.

Forte smiled, and then suddenly jerked forward. A thin plasma beam, the dagger version of the sword, shot out from his wrist and penetrated the thin armor on her stomach. It stabbed into her gut and, as it did, a purple wave of energy washed down from the tips of his wings to the tip of the blade inside of her. His energy now completely drained, Forte's fusion with was disrupted and he collapsed onto the ground in nothing more than ripped jeans and a t-shirt. Gospel crouched next to him, exhausted himself but worried for the sake of his Master.

The purple energy wave washed over Zero as she stumbled back. "What? No, no!" She reached up and clutched at her head, screaming from pain. The sound caused both Rock and Blues to freeze. "No, stop it! Stop, stop, st-!" She stopped mid-words, arms slowly lowering to her side. Forte shakily got onto his hands and knees, shaking his heads as he looked up.

"… Zero?" It was Blues. He stepped forward, Rock now too stunned to stop him. "Are you… okay Zero?"

She turned to face him, grinning maniacally. And then she disappeared, a few traces of red energy left behind a moment longer.

"What?" Blues ran over to where Forte was and skidded down on his knees. He grabbed the front of Forte's shirt and pulled him up, shaking him violently; Gospel snarled loudly in displeasure but couldn't do anything to stop him. "What just happened? What did you do to her?"

"Wily created a virus," Forte said quietly. "I was the carrier, but she was the target. She's infected… and she's unstoppable."


End file.
